Jewish Hungarian leader decries victims’ memorial

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The president of Hungary’s Jewish umbrella group criticized a planned monument to victims of the German occupation for ignoring Hungary’s complicity in the Holocaust.

The memorial announced Jan. 8 would be built in Budapest’s Freedom Square and pay tribute to “all Hungarian victims with the erection of the monument commemorating the tragic German occupation and the memorial year to mark the 70th anniversary of the Holocaust,” according to the Hungarian Government Information Center.

The proposed monument “would serve to blot out the responsibility of the Hungarian government of that time,” said Andras Heisler, president of Mazsihisz, the Jewish umbrella group.

Heisler said Hungarians also were involved in the mass killings of Hungarian Jews 70 years ago and that any monument commemorating Holocaust victims should reflect that fact. — jta